Dammit - it happened again

10 days?  10 freaking days between posts?  That is absolutely ridiculous!  I'm sorry to all of my loyal readers!  Well...I guess readers is plural...that means there is more than 1 of you...which I'm unsure of!

Anyway...it's been far too long.  However I have several blog posts lined up for the next few weeks! Hopefully life doesn't get in the way, or at least not as long as it did this time!

The Bierstube Guy!  Based on the Bierstube Bar.  A friend of mine gave me a tip on this one and I got it off eBay a few months ago.  Pretty cool bobblehead, it's well made and nice and heavy!  Happy to add this local "celebrity" to my collection!

Shipping Bobbles - How to package them!

I've read a lot about the shipping part of bobbleheads.  Whether you buy from eBay or Craigslist or thru an online retailer, there are plenty of shipping options.  That's the easy part.  The most important part of shipping is how you pack the bobblehead.  I've seen several people blame the post office for a damaged bobble and then file a claim (even tho the shipping package had no visible damage).  I've received bobbleheads in the mail...and 90% of the time I can tell without opening the package if the bobblehead is in good condition or not.

1 recent (in the past couple of months) example of poor shipping.  Unfortunately I don't have pictures to show.  I picked up the box and immediately things rattled around.  Obviously this is the first sign that something is broken.  How much rattling usually is a good indicator of how many broken pieces there are.  I opened the box and found 3 pieces.  The main bobble, its head decapitated and the base of the bobble, detached from the feet.  To me, this bobble is ruined, I can glue it back together, but in my mind...(and I have a very steady hand) it's no longer in good condition, even if it looks "ok."

How do you avoid this...NEVER ship in bubble mailers.  Several eBay sellers ship bobbles only in bubble mailers.  Typically this is a cheaper option (depending on the weight of the bobblehead).  I always ship in boxes...never bubble mailers (I use them for padding tho).  It's not really rocket science.  Take the bobblehead, wrap the neck (or all spots it bobbles/moves) with bubble wrap.  I usually wrap tissue paper around that for extra cushion.  Then I wrap the entire bobblehead with bubble wrap (it should go around the bobble at least 2 times.  If I dont have the original box, I use bigger bubble wrap one more time, again to make sure its double padded.  I then place it in a box and put anything (more bubble wrap, newspaper, plastic bags) around it so it can't move.  Once the box is stuffed, I tape it shut.  Then I shake it.  Weird huh - shake a box with a bobblehead in it - call me crazy but it works!  If you can't hear it move...you are set.  If you can, open the box up and stuff more crap in it!

This is not a hard process, use common sense (I know at times, it's not that common), and remember - bubble wrap is pretty cheap!

Bobblehead Boxes

So...you buy a bobblehead off eBay, Craigslist, at a Garage Sale, from a buddy...wherever you get it...a lot of the times, it doesn't have a box.  More teams are doing specialized boxes nowadays, but several still do the generic plain white boxes.  That's a problem for a lot of us.  Even if we display our bobbleheads, at some point they might need a box, or perhaps you don't have the space (like me) to display them all.  Bobbles in boxes are much better than un-boxed bobbles!  I've seen too many damaged and chipped bobbles because they are all thrown into one box.  Hell, one of my first deals I made was at a garage sale, but it was over the phone.  The lady was very honest with me saying several were damaged but plenty weren't.  My sister-in-law picked them up for me.  The lady crammed them into one box (minimal bubble wrap) and sent her on her way.  I get the box and honestly I wasn't expecting much (over 30 bobbles for $20...I couldn't go wrong).  About half of them were damaged, scuffed, or chipped in one way or another.  Obviously the lady no longer had the boxes.

Well...now you never have to worry about having an un-boxed bobblehead!  My buddy Bill (quite the entrepreneur) has bobblehead boxes available.  Feel free to email him to buy your boxes!  They are heavier/sturdier than the giveaway boxes too and measure 3 x 3 x 7 5/8!

ESPN Bobbleheads - 2 versions

I've been looking at these ESPN bobbleheads for quite a while.  Obviously they don't really fit into the "Minnesota" theme of my collection, but they are classic AGP bobbleheads and I've always really liked the look of them.  I'm not sure why there are a couple different versions, one is obvious, celebrating the 25,000 episode of SportCenter.  I dont think either set is too tough to find and there are a couple other ESPN related bobbles I'd like to pick up.

Memory Company Bobblehead - Vikings

Here's another Memory Company bobblehead, this time, its the Vikings edition.  I know there are a couple Twins bobbleheads as well.  This one is from 2001 and I believe there is a second edition from 2003.